These are a Few of My Favorite Things

This is the best time of year. Crisp, fall, sweatshirt weather; Football, and the beginning of the holiday season. As Thanksgiving approaches, the Christmas music starts playing, and dinners consist of comfort foods like roasts and potatoes, and I am in the mood to watch classic family movies, I would like to take the time to summon my inner Maria and list a few of my favorite things...

A great time of the day - when my husband comes home from work and Nicholas screams "Dadda!" as he runs to the door to greet him and Katelyn follows behind as she tries to scoot crawl as fast as she can to keep up with her brother

Another great time of day - the morning when I go in to get Nicholas up and he says "Hi!", grabs his puppy dog, and lifts his arms to be picked up. Then, as I put him down, he runs out to Katelyn and gives her a kiss on the top of her head.

Watching my husband and the kids play together as I prepare dinner

The way Nicholas goes to take my husband's hand and my hand when we mute the TV and start to pray before dinner

Hearing Nicholas and Katelyn laugh together as they play together and crawl around the floor

Seeing how Katelyn's face lights up whenever she sees her brother

Watching Nick show off for all of us with his silly faces, his fast feet, spinny-spins, and side-to-side dance moves, and his funny voices

Taking walks with the family in the evening and then ending that with playtime at the jungle gym with the other families who are also spending quality time outside together

The quality alone time that my husband and I get together to just relax after the kids are in bed

Christmas music streaming on my computer as I play with my kids

The way Nicholas and Katelyn love each other so much already and how Nicholas is always wanting to help me feed her bananas or change her diaper. The way he is already so protective of her

Watching Nicholas bounce on his horse while Katelyn bounces in her Jumperoo

Having Nicholas help me do the laundry

Being able to spend each day with my family


These are truly just a few of my favorite things... I could go on... but, behind these favorites, as I think of the blessings the Lord has given me, there stands a constant and most important truth, the Lord Lives and is with us all each day.

His Joy is Greater...

Every morning when I go in to wake Nicholas, I am greeted with a great big smile, a constant stream of "talking", and the most adorable giggles. His excitement to see me and his desire to talk to me, warms my heart and brings me so much joy. What a blessing it is to have a son who looks forward to spending time with me each day. But, what is even greater is the fact that, as much as I love having my child display such happiness and eagerness to be with me, the Lord has even more joy when I come to Him, talk to Him, and listen to Him. My gibberish and ramblings bring Him joy. My laughter, my tears, my worries, my joys - the Lord wants to hear it all. He is there each morning and looks forward to spending time with me. How great that the Creator and Savior of the World, is looking forward and desiring to spend time with us. For He says, " Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." How wonderful to know that the Lord asks us to come to Him and to lay our burdens on Him. He wants for us to unload our worries and fears on Him. He wants to listen to our burdens and comfort us during stressful times. But, the most beautiful fact is that He is "gentle and lowly in heart". Our Lord is approachable and receives us with gentleness, meekness, and love. Praise be to God!

And this is my prayer...

Being a mother definitely ignites your prayer life. Since learning of my pregnancy with my son, Nicholas, I have been praying more and more for the future of my children. I can't watch the news without being reminded of not only how much I need to lift my children up in prayer daily, but how I need to lift this country up in prayer, too. Suddenly, the gap between the ways of the world and God's ways is becoming even larger and more clear to me. It was one thing to know, as a woman without children, that the world was a crazy place - but now, the craziness is even more visible to me. However, as a wife and mother, I am also reminded daily of God's blessings and, to use a cliche, what is truly important in this life. What difference am I making for the Lord? How am I living for him? When my husband looks at me, does he see a Proverbs 31 woman? When my children look at me do they see Christ's love and grace reflected for me?
How humbling is it to consider the fact that I am to be a witness of Christ's grace and love to my children each day - I, along with my husband, am the first person that my children will have as an example of Christ's love. Boy, does that make me stop and think - how am I portraying the love of Christ? My prayer is that I will be able to say, as Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:9), "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do..." That means that I must teach, give, speak, and act in a way that exemplifies Christ. So, I better be praying about that because I need the Lord's help!
I pray that Nicholas will be a husband who loves his wife "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it," (Ephesians 5:25) and that, when it comes to fathering he will adhere to Paul's instruction in Ephesians 6:4 where it is written: "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord". (In fact, I also pray both these things for my husband.)
I pray for Katelyn, that she will have an "incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God" (1 Peter 3:4). Also, that she will be a Proverbs 31 woman who is a virtuous wife whose worth is far above rubies. (Yes, I pray these things for my own life as well).
These things I pray and am confident and thankful that the Lord will answer these prayers that he may be glorified.
And this is my prayer.

The Beginning

Okay.... here it goes... I am new to this blogging thing and I am not sure how this is all gonna' work out, but I thought I would give it a shot. Please be patient with me and give me a little learning curve.

I have started this blog in the hopes that those members of my family who do not wish to join Facebook, may still have easy access to pics of Nicholas and Katelyn. I also thought it may be a fun way to have a sort of "virtual scrapbook" where I could write about milestones in the kids' lives, fun experiences, and favorite things. I will try to develop a page that reflects my love for the Lord, for my family, for my country, and for life. I hope that this may be an encouraging page for people who view it.

So... it begins... I am officially crossing over into the world of blogging...